when they were looking at notre dame, they were looking at a building that was begun before columbus ever sailed. >> safer: paris had grand boulevards, breathtaking parks, great universities, all the things young america didn't have. was there even an art museum in the united states? >> mccullough: no. no art museum in the united states, none. >> safer: so, in 1830, an artist named samuel morse came to study the treasures of the louvre. his painting of what he saw there is a masterwork. but morse had other talents as well. while in paris, he dreamed up the idea for the telegraph, as revolutionary in its day as the internet is in ours. >> mccullough: he developed not only the telegraphic system, but what we call the morse code, which was essential. >> safer: morse later met louis daguerre, the father of photography as we know it. daguerre showed him this picture, a paris street scene from 1836; the first photographic image of a human being, a man getting his boots polished. morse was astonished, and with daguerre's blessing, brought photography to america. >> mccullough: so one man, h